The Descendants
by LoveIsAlwaysLouder
Summary: Peeta and Katniss honestly thought that their lives had settled down for good but that all changes when their daughter begins to fall for the great grandson of Panams former President
1. Chapter 1 letters

The decedents

( all rights go to rightful people)

Chapter one: Letters

Ivy Mellark was a decidedly different girl. Some would say odd,  
>strange even but the kind stuck with different. It only made scene<br>for a damaged chicken to produce a damaged egg; and almost everyone  
>in Panam knew that her parents were damaged.<p>

No one could expect for some one to go through two games and a war  
>completely un scaved Yes they were damaged. Their skin was patched and<br>sewn just as a quilt. Scars riddled most of the visible skin, but even  
>more damaged than their bodies were their minds. For there were still<br>nights when even the others strong embrace couldn't shake the demons  
>that lurked in there minds, still days when he had to clutch the back<br>of a chair for support as memories that weren't this own invaded his  
>head.<p>

Naturally this would effect their offspring.  
>To tell the truth the Mellarks really weren't all that strange. They<br>lived in a normal house, worked normal hours, ran a normal business  
>and yet people talked.<p>

District 12 was rebuilt by the core 800 original survivors, they were  
>the ones who knew better than to judge the family based on the ordeal<br>they had been put trough at a young age. They were Those who had  
>brought bread from Peeta's family, and fresh game from Katness. Those who had<br>known them before they were tributes. It was the new comers, those who  
>had flocked the district after the Capitol fell to work in the new<br>factories. They were the ones who knew them souley from  
>there time in the public eye. They were the ones who whispered. The<br>ones who could occasionally gawked at them in the streets when they  
>had first settled there. After a few years thing settled, and yet<br>there was still talk, wonder how truly stable they were, and when  
>their first child was born the question of whatever they would be fit<br>parents was brought forward. How could two such fragile people be  
>trusted with something as needy and time consuming as a child.<p>

They had never let this get to them. Assumesotions made by naive  
>people weren't factors in their life's. They only saw who they used<br>to be, not the people they had grown into together. Different, they  
>were all very different.<p>

Ivy had always known that her parents past were complicated, but she  
>hadn't known to what extent until only a few years earlier. She was<br>exactly nine years old when " uncle" Haymitch went to town on a bottle  
>of white liquor and let something slip about the games at her party.<br>that night after they sent her brother to bed they sat her down and  
>explained just exactly what happened all those years ago. They weren't<br>supposed to learn about the hunger games until they were 13 and deemed  
>ready to understand but it had seemed impossible to keep it from her<br>after that.

It had been hard to hear at first, but with time she adjusted to the  
>idea, the only thing that really bothered her was that no one seemed<br>to be willing to answer her endless questions. So she took comfort in  
>Nicholas Odair<p>

Like her, Nick was the child of two former victors, and had had many  
>of the same questions as she when he was younger, but unlike her, only<br>one of his parents had made it past the final war. At age 30 Nick was  
>almost 16 years older than her, and yet he seemed to be the only one<br>who understood her. They communicated through letters much like the one  
>Ivy had written the night before.<p>

The past hours had gone by painfully slow. So many thought were  
>trapped in her brain. It had been the last day of school the day<br>before, and normally she would have been excited at the prospect of  
>summer but not this year, for she knew that this summer her little<br>brother turned 13. 13, meaning that in the school year to follow he  
>would be learning about the hunger games. The games and the war. She<br>wondered how he would react when he put it together at the rebels  
>they spoke of in the class room were their parents, that they were the<br>spark that changed the whole of Panam. When he learned that the  
>complicated past they hadn't liked to speak of was actually made of.<p>

She tried not to think of it, of the pain he would feel at all they  
>had been put through, of the questions he would surely have. Would she<br>be able to give him the same answers that Nick gave her? She hoped so.  
>Hoped she could be the same comfort to him.<p>

When she woke in the morning after her restless night the  
>Dark curls that belonged to her mother in her eyes blocking her<br>vision. She swept them aside rising from her bed she checked her watch  
>that lay on the small table by her bed. She had a little time to spare<br>before she needed to be at the station if she wanted to catch the  
>earlier arrival. Quickly dressing she scooped up the letter she had<br>written the night before and exiting the room.

As she entered the hallway the letter clutched in her left hand was suddenly ripped away. She turned her head in time to see her brother racing down the stairs, letter in hand.

"Writing to your boyfriend again?" He taunted. She sighed before chasing after him. Ever since Rye had learned she was writing almost daily letters to a boy he had convinced himself that he was her secret boyfriend. She couldn't exactly set him straight. For revealing the true nature of her letters to Nick would mean revealing everything about their parents, something she was sure he wasn't ready to hear. She had hopes that before the summer was over her parents would pull him a side and tell him before he had to find out his family history from a book along with hundreds of other kids his age.

She dashed down the stairs and into the kitchen, grabbing her brothers shoulder just before he was about to escape into the living room. Twisting his wrist behind his back and pinning his face to the counter,

"I'll take that." She stated whipping the letter out of his hands, and for good measure wrapping him across the back of his head with the front of her hand.

Her parents didn't even have the time to intervene before she was out the door, but the sight of the letter in her hand reassured them of her destination. They knew that whenever a train came from or left to district 4, their daughter would be at the platform.

The streets were quite, nothing open this early, especially on a Sunday. She took her time walking through the square, enjoying the warmth of the early morning that would soon be over shot by the blazing heat of the afternoon sun.

The platform was fairly empty, a few people leaned against barriers or sat on benches, waiting for the train to speed in.

Like clockwork the train speed onto the platform, at 7:02 not a moment before, not a moment later. The small area is suddenly flooded with people exiting the train, egar to reach their final destination, she made her way through the sea of people, sliding between two large men, she finally reached the man standing beside the doors of the train, he smiles as she hands him the letter which he quickly slips into his carrier. She thanks him before turning to leave, bumping into the trains finally passenger. He couldn't have been older than 18, towering over her short figure. They both apologize quickly, and as she turns to leave, his eyes follow her face, for he can't shake the feeling that she is hauntingly familiar. He watch's as she disappears into the distance, headed back to whatever life she already had. His life was the thing he ran from. Sick of being known only for who his grandfather was and the things he had down, for his name was Alexander Snow. 


	2. Chapter 2

Growing up he had always been told one thing. That he was destined. Destined to bring back power to his family. When he was younger he hadn't understood what they meant, but that that look on his grandfathers face had made him feel special, so he basked in the glow of his family's adoration. The only thing to trouble him was the look of worry and fear that always seemed to be on his mothers face when they were alone together. When she had tucked him in at night, her eyes were full of remorse. He had, for the most part, ignored it, afraid of what it might mean.

Apart from that he had a fairly normal childhood that was up until he turned thirteen. When his grandfather insisted that he is pulled from school for higher education. From that point on he was taught in the families study by his grandfather himself. He told him stories of how their family had once been the most powerful in all the nations, that all the citizens were safe and happy, and that every year a great event called the Hunger Games were held. It was a time for honor, and courage, and was all destroyed by a group that called themselves the rebels. It was his job, his destiny, to restore the nation to its former grandeur and bring down the center and symbol of the Rebels, a woman called the Mocking Jay.

At the time he had felt proud, thought that he really meant something, that he was really going to help people. That was until he meet up with some of his old friends for a quick game of soccer and they had a very different story to tell.

He had come from a long line of monsters. Those who had let hundreds of thousands of people suffer so they could live a life of luxury. Those who stood aside and watched as children were sent to their death in front of a live and captivated audience.

They had fueled the fire, enforced these actions, and for what? For pure entertainment. When he got home that day he couldn't even look his mother in the eye. At first he had hated her, resented her for being a part in whatever plan that my grandfather had cooked up in his head. Than I learned more. Learned why she was so quite, sometimes it had seemed that she was afraid to even move. I learned that she herself at taken part in the last Hunger Games. The very last in history, and she had won. She had only been 12 at the time, and was now being punished for the actions of her grandfather.

Her father had bough ten her victory. Paying off one of the Rebels that had been acting as game maker, for his daughters safe return, yet she couldn't un see all that had taken place in the arena. When she was a child she hadn't understood, didn't get that they were real people dying before her on the television screen, until suddenly she was a part of it.

He had wanted nothing more than to run way from this life he was leading. away from all these horrors that came along with being a part of his family tree. Yet he had to wait, wait until he turned 18 and his family could have no more power over him, when he was an adult, he would run as far away from his home as his legs would carry him.

He resented everything about his life in the Capitol, everything right down to his own name. He was named by his Grandfather who had insisted on naming him Alexander, since the name meant Warrior, and he was supposed to be the warrior to restore PanAm back to its

"Glory Days". Ever since he was fourteen and he discovered the truth of what truly happened in the past he had refused to answer to that name. Taking his middle name. Nathan.

His grandfather, being as stubborn as he was had still refered to him as his real name, but

His grandson was going to great lengths to avoid him at all costs, but there was really no way around the weekly Sunday night dinners. He had gritted his teeth and kept his mouth shut for years, holding his tongue as his grandfather went off about how he was destined to change the world back to the way it should be, not wanting to hurt his mother, by opening wounds, and revealing all he knew about her and their families past.

It was his 18th birthday when he snapped, he had been plotting his escape for months, and had been planning on leaving the morning after the dinner that his mother had planned in his honor. She was the one thing he didn't want to leave behind. He was afraid that when he left her already fragile mind would snap.

The whole dinner his grandfather went on and on about how now that he was an adult, the plans that he had been making since the day he was born could finally be put to use and about how their first move would be to bring down the rebellions symbol, and finally put the mocking jay to rest. He had thrown down his cutlery and stood from the table knocking his chair off its legs.

He proceeded to scream at his grandfather about how he wasn't going to take any part in his twisted schemes, that he hated him, that he was threw with them.

He and stormed out of the room, and packed a duffel bag with everything he needed, and a few un essential memories. He had stormed thought the house, flinging the door open and was about to exit when he felt a hand on his arm, he turned to see his mother, tears forming in her eyes, He kissed her cheek, and then left, with only one destination in mind.

The train station.

District 12 had seemed perfect, the farthest he could get from the Capitol without going to the military base of district 13. He had hopped on the midnight train, never once looking Back.

He had woken that morning with a stiff neck, from his three day journey aboard the train. At this point he didn't care where they next stopped it would be his destination. Lucky for him, it was.

He had been last off the train, taking his time to make sure he had all of his possessions, when truthfully he didn't want to exit the safety of his compartment, for he had no next Step in his great plan of escape.

When he finally did exit, he bumped right into a small dark headed girl. They both uttered an apologize but before he could say more she had started on her way back through the platform.

He couldn't shake the feeling like he knew her. Something about her face, it haunted him, pushing its way forward till it was the only thing on his mind. How did he know her? Only one thing seemed out of place, Her eyes, a brilliant blue that was such a contrast to her dark hair. He knew her, but how? how?

He wondered his way from the train station to the town square. Being Sunday little was open, and even fewer people were about. His walk had given him time to sort out his priorities. Step one was to find a place to stay, money wasn't something of a worry, as much as he hated still being dependent on them, his family name would give him more than he needed at any bank in all of Panam.

After being rushed through a signing at the Justice building, he was assigned a housing unit. He had opted for the smallest of the spaces available. A studio apartment right above the local bakery. He had hopes that the smell of fresh bread would motivate him to get out of bed in the morning. He had rushed up the back stairs of the building not even bothering to go up front and check out his new home. He collapsed onto the bed that was also to serve as his couch, and fell into a deep sleep, not to wake until the next morning.

As he had expected the wafting of sent of fresh bread urged him to get out of bed. The sun was still rising in the sky as he slipped his feet onto the floor, and lightly walking over to one of the three windows that were the front of the building. Outside the streets were bustling with life. People, who all seemed to know on another, stopped in the streets to chat, the store fronts seemed bright an cheery. This district 12 was very different from the one he had read about, the pictures he had seen from afterit was all but destroyed by the old Capitol. This place seemed, warm, and welcoming. The perfect place to start over. He would leave " Alexander Snow" take his grandmothers Maiden name and become " Nathan White" a name that bore no deep history, no assumptions, no pressure, this was a place he didn't have to be the great grandson of the long dead Dictator, now he could just be Nathan.

He walked through the small alley that separated his building with the one next door, and around to the front, where the smell of bread became over whelming. He dashed up the steps Quickly. As he opened the door, a happy bell chimed.

A girl who had been arranging the shelf's turned around and shot him a smile. The same girl whose face was haunting him, the same girl he was sure that somehow he knew. When she realized who he was she laughed a little.

" you again" she said playfully. He was dumbfounded. Still trying to work out who she was, or who she resembled, or why he knew her.

" Do you speak?" she laughed, as he continued to just stare. At that he snapped out of it.

" Uh yes.." he looked around quickly trying to remember what he had entered the shop for.

" I'll take a cake please." he stated.

"take your pick" she said gesturing towards the large glass case that sate upon the counter, He examined it, pretending to being deep in thought on which cake took his fancy, when really he was trying to once again gather his thoughts, and form a sentence.

She folded her arms a top the case, resting her chin on top, smirking at his concentration. When he finally pulled it together enough to point out one of the cakes, her smirk turned to a smile, pulling the tray out of placing the cake into a small white box. Handing it to him.

As their hands touched, he blurted out the first thing that came to his mind.

" Sorry about bumping into you." he said almost too fast to comprehend. She smiled again.

" Don't worry about it. It was my fault." she stated taking the coins he dropped in her

hand, and digging in the cash register for exact change.

" I'm Ivy by the way" she said gesturing to her name tag, and dropping the change in his

Hand.

" I'm Nate" he stated. He had decided that Nate was much less formal than Nathan. That he

would be known as Nate. Addressed on as Nathan by officials, or high superiors.

She smiled again.

" I'll see you around." she said as she began to turn back to the shelves. He nodded He too smiling.

As he exited the shop he began to feel much better about his new life. That was until he turned back to admire the bakery from the front, and the name written in large letters popped out at him.

Mellark,

Mellark's Bakery

Ivy

Ivy Mellark, the baker's daughter

Peeta Mellark

Ivy Mellark, Daughter of the Mocking Jay.

He thought he was running from his past, suddenly he was stuck in the middle of it.

**( hope you enjoyed, my life was threatened twice if I didn't continue this so…. Haha. Just curious how exactly do you kill someone with a spoon? Not asked for a demonstration, just brief description :P )**


	3. Chapter 3

( all rights go to rightful people :P)

Chapter 3: Limitless

The house seemed all too quiet. Like something was off, not quite right. Or maybe it was her. She had already started this summer off on an odd foot, with the cloud of dread that was rye's birthday hanging over her head. She wished that her letter from Nick would arrive all ready, but she knew all to well that the next train from District four wouldn't arrive till, Wednesday.

It wasnt so far away, just a day, but a whole another day to have this heavy weight on her shoulders. She tossed and turned in her bed, unable to fall back asleep after being awoken by the sounds of her parents rising at the crack of dawn.

She had the whole day ahead of her and absolutely nothing to do. No letter to write, or shifts at the bakery. A storm was heading in, so the idea of heading to the woods wouldn't go over well with her parents.

Ivy didn't have many friends. It not that she wasn't kind, oh no she was one of the friendliest people in the whole school. She had, at one time, had many friends. It all changed on her 9th birthday, the night she found out who her parents really were. It had changed her, something that her friends had noticed right away. Ivy put some distance between herself and her class mates for a while, needing time to really come to terms with all that her parents went too. Her friendships had never quite been the same after that.

Not that she minded, she was perfectly happy to be by herself, most of the time. She had Nick to help her with her parental issues, her brother, when he wasn't being a jerk, was actually decent company. The girls in her grade would wave politely at her when they saw her about, they made casual conversation when she served them at the Bakery, or when she entered one of their families shops, or delivered game to their parents.

She lay in bed for a while, still at a loss of what to do that day, she had given up any hope of sleeping, so after dressing quickly, she headed down stairs.

It was still much to early in the morning for her brother to even consider being awake. As he would say "it is summer after all." she smiled a little thinking about it.

A walk seemed like a good idea. She quickly wrote Rye a note of her location and reminding him of his counter shift and noon.

Her face brightened as she stepped out the door and the warm morning sun hit her face. The Mellark's home lay on the south most side of district twelve. Way from the noise of the factories, yet still walking distance to the center of town, and the train platform.

It wasn't a long walk, but it had always been something Ivy enjoyed. It took her right past the large meadow where her and her brother played as children. The place she later learned was the final resting place for thousands of people.

She didn't like to think of it like that. Too her it was just a Medoew. A place full of happy memories. Sometimes she thought about those buried in the ground beneath her. She liked to think that they would be proud of what the world they left behind had they would be happy.

She smiled thinking about this. The meadow now behind her, the town square was only steps away. The shops were just starting to open, people just beginning to start there day.

What now? she had no need to enter the any of these establishments, no shopping list to complete, So she wondered the store fronts, looking at the displays, waving at those who passed her in the street.

After twenty minutes are so of mindless wandering, she found herself full circle back at the family bakery that she had passed on her way through town.

In the end she decided to head to the small attic above the un used apartment that, took up most of the Bakery second floor.

"Nate" felt as if he hadn't slept for day. All he could do was staring at the ceiling. Would he ever escape his life? Leave behind the past and legacy that he never wanted?

He had definitely picked the wrong place to start over. How could he have let it slip his mind that the Mocking Jay was from District 12. Settled in District 12, restarted her life in district 12. His grandfather had always said that they would start in district 12, and here he was, in district 12.

He had to get out of here. Run.. but where? He had already run away from his whole life once, could he do it again? Its not like he had much of a life here anyway, he'd only been here a matter of day, and yet he felt as if leaving would mean giving up on starting over. Leaving would mean accepting defeat.

He had spent hours talking himself into believing that he should stay, that he shouldn't let the fact that the people his grandfather had said he was destined to "put to rest" lived within walking distance. That he now lived a top there business. That at one point or another he would have to face them, and facing their daughter had been hard enough and that was before he even knew who she was! he shook his head. Ivy Mellark had been on his mind a lot lately too. He wondered how much she knew of her parents past. He would wager quite a lot. She was defiantly over thirteen, meaning she would have already learned of the games in school and surly her parents would have said something to her about what really happened.

How would she feel about him? The great grandson of a Dictator. No that was the old him. Nathan White had no connection to dear old President Snow. There was no reason for Ivy, or her parents to know who he really was. Or who he used to be. Not that it mattered. Likely hood of him falling into deep conversation with them was slim. Yet he had this feeling, a feeling that he needed to know more. Not about the Mocking Jay, or of the boy with the bread himself. No but of their daughter.

Why he felt like this he had no idea. He had this need to know her. To see how she functioned living with her parents past, who she was.

He tried to clear his head of her. Why was he so fascinated by this girl he didn't even know. He pulled out one of the few books he brought with him.

Thick and leather bound, he had " borrowed" it from the library when he was 15 and had yet to return it.

" History Of the Hunger Games" as written in Large gold cursive writing along the spine. He flopped on his bed, flipping the book open to one of the last chapters.

He re read the chapter that he had practically already memorized. Despite his grandfathers hatred he had always liked reading about Katniss Everdeen and Peeta Mellark. Enjoyed How the rebelled against the Capitol, and played by there own rules. It had always felt like reading a novel, not a textbook. Reading these accounts had only made his hatred for most of his family deeper.

Guilt ridden about all they were put throw, he had sworn to himself that he would never be a part of that. Flipping through the pages, time slipped away from him. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, lost in a whole different world.

He was brought back to reality by the door to his apartment rattling, as if someone was trying to open it from the other side.

He tensed. Had his grandfather come after him? Oh how thrilled he would be that he had chosen district 12, would probably believe that he was ready to continue with the master plan.

As quietly as he could, we made his way across the room positioning himself on one side of the door, the large book in his hand acting as his weapon. The door flung open and Nate jumped in front of it, raising to book up high ready to bring it down harshly on his attackers head.

Before he could react the figure jumped back and yelped. The high pitch sound startled him because he himself to jump back dropping the book on the floor with a loud "thump" as it bounced into the hallway right in front of the intruders feet.

" I'm so sorry!" he knew that voice. That same statement had been their first words to the other.

She reached down and scooped up the book at her feet, before handing it to him, her eyes glancing over his bear chest, before returning his gaze and looking into her eyes.

" I didn't know anyone was renting this place. I was just heading up to the attic, i guess ill be taking the fire escape from now she rambled off. He was once again in a slight state of shock being in her presence. He snapped out of it a little and smiled at her.

"Attic?" he questioned. She nodded,

" Right above here," she stated pointing to the ceiling,

" Its too small to rent to the city, so i kind of took it over" he nodded, looking at the ceiling, imagining her there.

"did you want to see?" she asked smirking that the look of seeming wonder as he continued to look at the ceiling.

He snapped out of his trance,

"That be great" he said cracking a smile. She walked right into the apartment, ignoring

The large mess that he had managed to make in only a few days span. She dug around in her pocket, pulling out a small bass key, to the door that Nate had tried to open several times.

It swung open to reveal a small wooden stair case. He followed her lead, heading up the stair. She was right about it being small. Less than half the size of his apartment down stairs, yet it felt bright and airy, with a sky light over head flooding sun into the room, and a large window, on the back side. You could see right over all the roofs of the shops and houses to the large sprawling meadow that lay just beyond the town.

There was a small desk in the corner, with letters stacked in large piles on top of it. All from the same person

"Nick" Who was nick? Why had he written her so many letters? The walls were lined with un hung paintings, and a dusty old music player, that must have been from, the old world.

"This" she says gesturing to the space around her.

"is where I keep everything I don't want my brothers hand on." he laughed a little,

" Like a million letters from nick?" he said jokingly.

" Exactly, Rye has it wrapped up in his head that he's my secret boyfriend, I can barely

get out of the hose with a letter in my hand without getting grilled" she said laughing.

"Is he not?" he asked

"Your boyfriend" he clarified. She laughed at that

"Nick? no he's like a billion." his heart leapt at that. No! no leaping. Why was he so happy

at that. No Bad Nate!

"He's just helpful about my parental issues" she stated, turning to look out the large

Window, of course "Alexander" knew all about her parents, but Nate doesn't so he asked

"Parental issues?" she cracked a small smile.

"Remember the book you tried to kill me with?" he nodded.

"Let's just say there mentioned a few times." she stated,

" meaning?" he egged on.

" I'll make you a deal." she said

" Ill tell you about me, but you have to go first." he smiled but on the inside he as

about to have a meltdown. For he knew nothing about himself. Not the new him,

But right now seemed as good as any to create "Nathan White"

**( thank you to the reviewer who informed me how you would kill someone with a spoon, than threatened to kill me with it… that's the third death threat since the start of the story… I feel so love :P)**


	4. Chapter 4

all rights go to rightful people)  
>Chapter four: Nathan White<br>Who was he? Who was Nathan White? Where did he come from? How did he end up here? What  
>was his family like? What were his parent's name?<br>He had no answers to any of these questions. Questions that Ivy Mellark was sure to ask  
>of him. Think Nate Think, he whispered to himself in his mind. Who are you? Who are you? The only thing he knew was who he wasn't.<p>

He wasn't Alexander Snow. Wasn't a pawn of his manipulative grandfather, or son to a broken  
>and battered Mother. He was Nathan White; he could be anything he wanted to be.<p>

He had made a pot of tea on the small ancient stove in the little kitchen of his apartment.  
>Filling two mugs carefully before heading over to the bed where Ivy sat, History of the<br>Hunger games in her lap as she carefully flipped through the pages.

She happily accepted the tea, as he plopped down on the bed beside her, the almost  
>overflowing mug rocking dangerously. He steadied the cup before look to Ivy, who closed the<br>book in her lap and let his gaze.

" Alright shoot!" he said leaning against the back board.

"What do you want to know?" he asked sipping his tea. She smirked a little.

" Well lets start with what i do know. Your name is Nate, which i assume is short for something, Nathanial or along those lines." He laughed  
>" Nathan" he stated. She bit her lip trying to re call anything else she knew about the boy.<br>" You came here on a train! and you like cake." he cracked a smile,  
>" That would be correct." She set her tea on the small side table, and turned to face him<br>even more, crossing her legs, and fiddling with her long hair.  
>" What district are you from?" she asked, her big blue eyes looking up at him innocently.<br>Quick which district was he from. He didn't really know much about any of them, he wouldn't  
>be able to answer questions or give details. He had really only been to 1 . That sounded<br>right, Nathan white of District 1.  
>" 1, born and raised."<br>" long way from home. Your parents just let you come all the way to 12 alone?" parents..  
>who were his parents. What were they like? What if she wanted pictures? Solution.<br>" They passed a few months after i was born, I lived with Family friends, ditched the  
>second i turned 18."<br>"way to answer my next question of your age." than her bright face turned somber.  
>"I'm sorry about your parents." she said quietly.<br>" Its fine" he reassured her, not liking to see her spirits lessened.  
>" You can't really miss someone you never knew." He stated, smiling slightly.<br>" How did they die?" she asked looking at her folded hands.  
>" They were Morphine addicts, went too far one night" she nodded, un sure of what to say<br>next.  
>Eventually the conversation regained its playful nature. He found creating the new him,<br>much easier than expected, it was if he was designing his own life, exactly the way he  
>wanted it. No flaws or heritage, no pressure from his family, and no lingering cloud of<br>guilt. He was now and forever Nathan White. A orphan from District 1, he played soccer,  
>and loved Apples. He used to have a dog named Jetta, and hated the dentist. Above all<br>he had never stepped foot in the woods.  
>That last fact had caught Ivy by surprise.<br>" Never?" she asked, eye brows raised and shock evident on her face.  
>"I grew up in the city! he defended.<br>" you're missing out." she stated, smirking, still in slight disbelief.  
>" Am I now?"<br>" Definitely, it was one of the only places i went after I found out about the ga-" she  
>stopped speaking abruptly. Clutching tightly to her now empty tea cup.<br>" found out about the what?" he continued, but she still looked down.  
>" Nothing, its nothing." as if clock work a large clap of thunder sounded overhead.<br>She glanced over at the window, where rain was slowly beginning to fall, the sky a dark gray  
>as storm clouds begin to roll in.<br>" I should probably go before it gets worse." She stated.  
>"Trying to get out of taking your turn in the hot seat?" he joked, trying to re grain the<br>the lightness of their original conversation. She smiled, her eyes still lingering with  
>the era of sadness.<br>" Rain check?" he nodded, she made her way out of apartment, and into the rain.  
>He watched her run through the streets toward the meadow, until her figure<br>disappeared from sight.  
>He fell backwards onto his bed. What was he doing? Of course the games would be hard for<br>her to talk about. Of course it was a sensitive topic; of course he was an idiot.  
>If he hadn't pressed on about it, it's not like he needed her to tell him, he already<br>knew, Hell be probably knew more than she did. Stop. Alexander knew those things.  
>Nate doesn't.<br>He closed his eyes hands on his face. Stupid. He had simply been stupid.

By the time she reached her front door she was drenched in water.  
>Her mother had wrapped her in a towel and sent her upstairs to dry off.<br>She hadn't expected the memories to hit her as hard as they had.  
>Hearing Nate talk about never setting foot in the woods, reminded her of her<br>first real experience there.  
>It was the day after her 9th birthday, the day after her parents broke the<br>news to her about why they had nightmares, Why there were times when  
>her mother had to reassure his father that things were real...<br>She had risen before anyone else in the house, her heart heavy in her chest,  
>she ran.<br>She had never been in the woods by herself before, but she soon found herself,  
>running through the thick trees, jumping over logs and climbing over rocks.<br>Until she came to a stop at the top of a large hill looking down upon a  
>calm field of flowers below.<br>She didn't know how long she had sat there. Just staring at the ground below.  
>Images tore into her mind, the violence the pain. When she looked back<br>at the town she grew up in the only thing she could see was it on fire,  
>hear the screams of thousands as they were burned to death. It was a<br>story she hadn't been ready to hear, yet she was glad her parents hadn't  
>waited any longer.<br>She had never spoken to anyone else, besides Nick, about her family.  
>it hadn't been hard to open up to him, he had , at one point or another,<br>shared all the same thoughts as she. Had felt the fear, the anger,  
>the guilt.<br>But how could she tell a virtual stranger about the one thing that  
>haunted her?<br>As she sat by the window watching the rain fall in thick sheets,  
>she wondered if she could ever be truly honest with anyone ever again.<p>

( sorry for shortness. its more of a filler .. i know i hate those too,  
>my death threat toll is up to 4! How exciting!)<p> 


	5. Chapter 5

( all rights go to rightful people)

Chapter 5: Protection

All her life she had known she would never have children. She could not and would not bring a child into a dying world. A world where they would starve for the first 12 years of their lives and then spend the next 6 in fear of being chosen. God forbid they were reaped, and shipped off to the Capitol like a pig raised for slaughter, to be killed in front of thousands for entertainment.

Never had she imagined the world changing the way it had. That somehow the fire that fueled the depression and pain was destroyed and despite everything a new world rose from the ashes.

Still the idea had scared her. How could she raise a child? She who had been damaged, and broken to the point where the slightest thing could make her fall apart, and Peeta who still struggled to hold onto his reality.

He had healed far quicker than she had. Had managed to hold onto his mind, and slowly, slowly begin to grow.

She knew that he was ready, knew that he wanted it so badly, yet she couldn't bring herself to grasp the idea. She was safe, the hunger games long gone, never to return to plague their lives with more pain, so why was she so afraid?

Afraid she would ruin them, that their innocence would be stripped away by the horrors that still lingered all around her. The nightmares that still visited her some nights. Nights where she would have to re-live the deaths of so many, those she loved, and those who had meant nothing to her, the tributes that had entered the arena beside her, with the exact same intent as she….. to go home. She had played a hand in ending all of their lives.

Their faces still lurked in her mind, their screams still filled her ears on the nights when even her husband's strong embrace wasn't enough to keep the monsters away.

Would her damage destroy her children? Could she care for something so fragile when she herself was holding on by a thread?

It took years, years for her to feel together again. To feel like maybe, just maybe she could grow. Grow away from what had happened to her when she was little more than a child.

Forgetting would be impossible, but she wasn't looking to forget. Simply leave the past in the past, not letting its darkness dim the lights of her future.

15 years, it took 15 years, 15 years to feel strong enough to take that step to expand her family. Still she worried, worried that when her children found out of their parents past, they too would be scared, that at night faceless figures would haunt them in their sleep.

So when she entered her almost grown daughter's room, and saw her with her head against the window watching as the rain came down in thick sheets, she knew what was going through her head.

Something had happened. Something that was making her daughter remembers.

It was one of the many memories she would never forget.

It was supposed to be a great night. A celebration. She should have thought ahead, hidden away any liquor in the house, but he had been doing so well, that she hadn't even considered it being a problem. Yet soon enough a bottle was empty and dear old "uncle Haymitch" began to recount exactly how he came to meet the newly nine year old parents. Rye who had been only 6 at the time had luckily already dosed off in an arm chair, but Ivy and listened to every word the old man could get out of his mouth before he was quickly escorted out of the room by her father.

She had sat up in her room, wide away, waiting, and soon enough her parents entered her room hesitantly. They had done their best to make their daughters understand, without horrifying her beyond repair, so much for a nine year old to understand, so much for anyone to understand.

It was early in the morning when they finally left their daughters room. In a way a weight was lifted off their shoulders, at least they no longer had to keep this part of their lives from her, wouldn't have to come up with hurried excuses or reasons for their sometimes odd behavior. There was still the issue of Ryan.

Sweet little Rye who had never left his parents side until he turned 5. Who liked to pretend he was tougher than anyone else in his year, but was secretly the shyest kid of the group.

She remembered how Ivy had reacted, how she hadn't come back from the woods for days. She had watched her little girl sitting on top of that hill, watching the field below. She had wanted nothing more than to comfort her, to hold her in her arms and keep her face from the horrors of her past, but she also knew that this was something she needed to do alone. After a few days Ivy had seemed back to her normal self, to an outsider the difference would have been impossible to spot, but they knew, they saw. Saw the pain in her eyes that flicker of fear. Over time it seemed to fade, but was ever present.

Would Rye be the same? Or would his light hearted sprits be sucked away by the darkness. She was ever great full that Ivy had found a safe haven in Nick. That he was able to guide her through all the confusion that fogged her young mind. Could she count on her to be the same thing to her little brother?

The rain continued to pour against the roof of the house for the next few days, and still Ivy sat by the window, her head swimming. She knew that she couldn't avoid talking with Nate forever, and why should she? It's not like people didn't know the story of the "Mockingjay" why would it be so different if he knew that she was her mother? That her parents were the ones who lit the spark that lit the whole world of fire. Would it make him think different of her? He had been so open with her, telling her the answers to everything she asked, even sharing the loss of his parents. Would sharing the details of her families complicated past kill the lightness and carefree feeling of their time together?

When the rain finally stopped she decided to finally exit her house. The second she exited the house she headed straight for the woods. For the hill that had been her safe place after she discovered the truth about her families past.

She reached to top of the hill, standing and looking over the same valley as when she was a child. For a moment she closed her eyes, trying to clear her head of all thoughts. Just as the world began to fade away from her, the silence was broken.

" Ivy?" she voice shouted. She turned around, to see a tall boy climbing up the hill she stood ontop of.

Nathan


	6. Chapter 6

( all rights go to rightful people)

Chapter 6: Defined

Her eyes widened. It seemed that every time she tried to run from something it only ran faster after her. Not that she had been trying to run from Nate, she just didn't know how to open up to someone she barely knew, epically about something as personal as her parents past. With no close friends besides a boy nearly twice her age from district four. She had never been able to confided in anyone, never opened up about all her thoughts to someone sitting right in front of her. How easy it had been to spill her mind to a piece of paper, how she could re-write her thoughts into something that made scene.

What now? When there could be no final copy. No rewrite or second chance, if her words came out wrong, there was no way to take them back.

He climbed the hill towards her, smiling at the face he hadn't seen since their afternoon together in his "apartment" He had braved the harsh rain over the past few days to look through the large front windows of Mellark Bakery, yet he had always found that the business to be either closed or the counter to be manned by a young boy with blonde hair.

Despite the fact that only two or so days had passed it had seemed like forever. It sounded corny and cliché that she was all he thought about since that stormy afternoon, but it was true. He had been mentally kicking himself for days. Trying to work out a way to smooth over whatever damage he had caused. Family was a touchy subject for both of them. There were things they both wanted buried away, hidden, forgotten, yet the past is always with them, and it's impossible to run forever.

This was one of those times she had to stop running; she had to look her fears in the eye. It shouldn't be a big deal, no. She decided. It wasn't a big deal. Not at all.

It didn't matter who her parents were. What they had done. What they had seen. It wasn't like they were criminals, no quite the opposite, to many they were heros, But she knew the truth. Knew how they were still plagued with a never ending guilt. That some days were harder than others. There was nothing glamorous about what they had done, they had simply survived.

She just hated thinking about it. However time she closed her eyes it was all she saw. The fire, the screams of people she never knew but loved anyway.

They were words she had never spoken out loud, only ever written on paper, for if the words escaped her lips they would feel all too real. As if never speaking them made them seem like somewhat of a hoax. Something made of imagination and fears, not fact and memories.

Nate reached to top of the hill plopping down besides her looking forward to the field of flowers below without really seeing them, his mind to busy with thoughts to truly take in his surroundings.

"Have you been avoiding me?" he asked playfully moving his gaze from the field to her face. She half smiled, looking down at the hand full of grass she pulled from the earth beneath her.

"Not exactly." she stated, watching as the blades of grass slipped through her fingers and fell to the ground below. It was the truth, she hadn't been avoiding him, but it wasn't as if she had been exactly seeking him out either. Staying hold up in her room, waiting out the rain and trying to decide how to deal with the exact conversation she was about to enter into.

Nate looked down at his folded hands, a slight frown creased across his lips.

"Look I'm sorry about pressuring you the other day. I get if your families a sensitive topic, we don't have to talk about it if it makes you un coverable ."

" It doesn't." she stated watching as the light breeze blew away the remaining grass from her palm.

" I've just never said the words out loud before," he continued to look at his hands wondering what to say next.

It was Ivy who spoke, her words coming out of nowhere; they seemed distant as if not part of her body.

"Have you ever wanted to just run away?" Nate cracked a smile.

"I Kind of already have." He stated, she nodded, her eyes thoughtful.

'I just feel... I don't know.. Trapped. Don't get me wrong, I love my family, my home, but I feel like there this ever lurking shadow, a gray cloud that I can't seem to shake. That my parents past are effecting my future. That I've become them,"

He could see the pain that was deeply embedded in her eyes,

'Hey" he said softly, turning his body to face her.

"Were not our parents, I know that first hand." No Nate stop, stop relying on your past. Alexander resented his parents, not you, no not Nathan. Nathan who had no parents. He quickly covered his tracks.

" It's not like if a morphine addict." She closed her eyes for a moment. Letting the light breeze flow through her hair, blowing her curls into her face. She pushed them back to rest behind her ears, taking a deep breath absorbing the words that had come from Nate's mouth.

Telling her story had been a lot easier than expected, her parents tale was more than well known all across the country, and Alexander Snow knew more than his fair share of information, in fact he had believed knew more than Ivy herself, his grandfathers sharing the facts that weren't in the history book, yet Ivy filled in those gaps all on her own.

It seemed that her parents had left nothing out in their story telling, not wanting her to find out details of her own family from someone else. Nate had acted fully surprised and fascinated by each new tidbit of information. After all, it was Alexander who knew these little shared facts, and as far as he was concerned Alexander Snow did not exist.

Ivy was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to open up. How freeing it felt to say a loud ever thought she had run through her head since the age of 9. How Nate's Kind words and thoughtful answers gave her almost the same feeling of safety and freedom that her letters from Nick had. As if he too was connected to the horrors that took place long before either of them were born, like he understood. In that moment, staring into the light green of Nate's eyes, she realized that maybe just maybe, she could be free.

**( I'd like to apologize I've been trying to update this chapter for days now but it just keeps re-adding chapter 5, My internet has been really shaky since I've been traveling but I'm home now so I'm hoping this chapter will go through. If it doesn't work I'm going to cry) **


	7. Chapter 7

ok i get that its been a while, i shant bore you with why, but no one read authors notes so i suppose it wouldnt really matter :p Oh well, i hope you enjoy! I dont really have anything planned for this chapter, so we'll see how winging it goes :P Disclaimer: all rights go to rightful people!

Chapter 7: What a feeling

He loved to watch his children sleep, thanking God that they were able to close there eyes and not be tormented by unknown horrors lurking in there sub consious. Glad they werent kept away at night by haunting faces of a fear filled past, yet there were there were three people in the house tormented during the night, nights when he was torn from his own nightmare by the scream of his eldest child. Over the years, just as his own had, her nightmares faded, but with his sons 13th birthday fast approuching he feared that soon he too would be introduced into restless nights and tormented images that seemed all to real. It was a fear shared by not only his wife but his daughter.

It was the exact thought that kept Ivy up at night, the same thought that she had stressed over only days before. She had hoped that Nicks letter would send her some words of comfort that would destroy the guilt and fear that was ever building in her stomach.

So when she returned for her day in the woods with Nate to find that her mother had been to the train station already that day, picking up the packages dilivered from other districts, to find a letter adressed to her in scrawled handwriting that she had come to know so closely. She snatched up the letter, glad she had reached it before her brother, knowing his fondness of attempting to read her mail. She rushed up to her room, closing her door tightly behind her, flipping the small brass lock, insuring that Rye wouldnt come bursting in at anymoment. She tore it open egerly, erning for his wise words that somehow always managed to calm even her wildest thoughts.

Ivy,

I know that if my father had lived long enough to produce a second child i would be feeling the exact same emotions that shake you right now. The games are a tramatizing thing to learn about even if both your parents didnt compete in them. I agree that he needs to be warned, finding out from someone you trust is a lot easier than finding out from a teacher who cant be bothered enough to even learn your name, It may take come convincing on your parents side, they know what they need to do but at the same time, passing off the burden of re living the tale to a stranger would be much easier, but sometimes we have to pick between what is right and what is easy. We both know that its a hard subject for them to discuss, it brings up horrors that now only exist in the nightmare the terrorize them the moment they let their gaurds down.  
>Rye is far older than you were when you discovered what truly lays in the past, and though you may not believe it those few years will make all the diffrence. He isnt a child as you were, and when the time comes and he learns the truth you'll be right there with him, just as i was for you.<p>

Lots of Love Nick.

She flopped down on her bed, holding the letter close to her face, taking in the sent of slat water that absorbed into everyone of his letters. She could picture him writting this, sitting next to his window, the sound of the waves crashing against the shore in the backround, the room dark, the only light from the moon spilling through the window. She knew that he only wrote at night, and it was one of the few times anyone would find him indoors. He hated feeling contained and sufficated by the four walls around him, that being out in the open, feeling the wind on your face and being able to look up and see nothing but the sky, and the endless vast universe that circled right above them.  
>it was the same feeling Ivy got in the woods, of being weightless.<p>

Nate flopped down on his bed, grabbing a pillow from above his and shoving it onto his face. He was doomed. As much as he wanted to just be Natan he knew that Alexander was still lurking in his shadows,  
>it was easy to convince myself that Alexander never existed, but when you brought someone else into the picture creating a whole new identity for became wasnt exactly an easy feat. He had made up hundreds of facts about himself at the drop of a hat, but what now? He hadnt planned on getting attached to anyone, especially not someone who his great grandfather tried to kill repeatedly. At first he had been absoulutly terrifyed by Ivy, that somehow the moment she layed eyes on him she would know exactly who he was, than she had been someone to talk to, but today somthing changed,<br>hearing her talk about her family, the way she didnt leave a thing out, like she'd been dying for someone to talk to, for someone to listen. What now? Could he continue to hang around her? Pretend to be a district 1 orphan, with no family to speak of. Would she even want to see him again? He hoped so.  
>Being around her made him feel different, Like for once he was Nate, and Alexander was the farthest thing from his mind, but how long would it last? For the first time he started to wonder if he could really leave himself behind. How was it possible to be one person of 17 year and than suddenly become a whole new person? He let his mind wander to his mother, the only thing he regretted leaving behind. He hated the idea what she was locked up in the big house with no one but her crazy father and her absent minded husband. Would her mind fully slip away from her now that she had no one to cling to. He wished that she could have come with him, that they could live a different life together,<br>away from the crazy city that had tormented both of them. He pushed his mother out of his mind,  
>letting his toughts shift back to Ivy, wondering what kind of future they could hold together.<p>

i know it short! im sorry. Your just going to have to get over it! SORRY!


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